A fuel injection valve is described in German Patent No. 49 47 40, in which a valve closing body connected with a valve needle cooperates with a valve seat body for a valve seat. An essentially axial fuel line, opening into a fuel channel running in the radial direction in the valve seat body, is provided in the nozzle body to guide the fuel. The fuel channel opens into a spray orifice in the area of the valve seat.
Another fuel injection valve for direct injection of fuel into a cylinder of an internal combustion engine is described in German Patent Application No. 196 00 403.
A disadvantage of the conventional fuel injection valves is that the amount of fuel metered by the fuel injection valves is defined by the stroke of the fuel injection valves. The stroke of the fuel injection valves is, however, relatively complicated to alter and can only be modified within narrow limits once the fuel injection valve is assembled. Fine adjustment of the metered fuel amount is therefore relatively complicated with the conventional fuel injection valves.
Furthermore, the fuel distribution within the fuel jet exiting the conventional fuel injection valves is largely radially symmetric. In practice, however, asymmetric fuel distribution within the fuel jet is desirable under certain circumstances. Thus, for example, a fuel-air mixture composition that is different in the spark plug region from the rest of the fuel jet may be advantageous.